cliff." today treasury secretary tim geithner met with house and senate leaders. republicans came out of that meeting saying that the white house needs to get serious about spending cuts. >> it's time for the president, congressional democrats to tell the american people what spending cuts they are really willing to make. >> let's give a christmas present to the american people. and all we're saying is, we're willing to make the cuts. >> coming needs to reach an agreement in the next few weeks in order to avoid a series of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts in january. >>> oh, to be a fly on the wall on this one. president obama and mitt romney met privately at the white house today to chew over the nation's economic issues. it was the first time they have been together face to face since their contentious campaigns. cbs reporter tara mergener on the political power lunch. >> reporter: mitt romney got out of an suv and walked into the white house alone. the former republican nominee then s